Medical Stores Fire Was Arson; 10 Officials Indicted

Government has concluded that the fire that destroyed the Central Medical Stores (CMS) in Tema was a case of arson. This followed investigations into the cause of the fire which occurred in January last year by the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) and the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI). A source has hinted Graphic Online that a total of 10 officials have been indicted in the report by the GNFS and the BNI. Meanwhile, government will release its official position on the investigations into the fire on Friday. The Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Marietta Brew Appiah-Opong, will issue government’s statement following the approval of President John Dramani Mahama.

Source: Daily Graphic

Fire razes down 34 houses in Volta region

Some 34 thatch houses have been completely razed down by fire at Ative-Korfeyie, a farming community in the Ketu North district of the Volta region.

The incident which occurred at about 1pm on Wednesday, according to Starr news sources started from a bushfire set by some game hunters in the area.

It took personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service from Akatsi and Dzodze close to four hours to put the fire under control, thus preventing it from engulfing the entire community.

No casualty was, however, recorded as majority of the residents were on their farms at the time of the disaster.

The Deputy district NADMO coordinator for Ketu North, Mr. Bright Dela Alormetu told Starr news’ Lambert Atsivor, that fifteen electricity poles were also destroyed by the inferno, which has rendered about 134 persons homeless.

He said some of the affected residents have been relocated into a nearby vocational school building as they arrange relief items for them.

One of the victims also told Starr News that they have lost their belongings as well as harvested farm produce to fire and appealed for government support.

“We have lost everything including food items and clothing. What to eat now is a problem, so we are pleading with the authorities to come to our aid” a victim told Starr news.

Source:starfmonline.com

54 fire cases reported in Western Region this year

The Western Regional Commander of Ghana National Fire Service, Mr Obeng Dankwa Dwamena says 54 fire cases have been reported in the region in January compared to 36 in the same period last year.

He described the situation as alarming, thus compelling the Service to intensify fire safety education across the region to curb the menace.

Mr Dwamena made the disclosure at Fijai on Wednesday when the national taskforce on bush fires visited the regional headquarters to begin a three-day sensitisation campaign.

He said the Region recorded a total of 402 fire cases last year with an estimated cost of damage at GH? 958, 931.00.

He said 46 bush fires were recorded, 161 domestic, 25 industrial, 58 vehicular, 56 commercial and three institutional fires.

Mr Dwamena noted that although the fire incidents are increasing the Service had not relented on its efforts on safety campaigns in the Region and the fire taskforce is working hard to ensure compliance with fire safety regulations.

He said the national taskforce on bush fires had visited the Region to augment the efforts of the Regional Command in creating and sustaining awareness on fire safety to save lives, the environment and property.

He said the ban on hunting wildlife is still in force and warned the public to be circumspect with fires.

The Regional Fire Commander advised cigarette smokers to extinguish their leftovers before throwing them away and those who burn their farms to be careful so that the faggots and burning of weeds did not cause widespread fire.

He said 1,126 fire volunteers have been constituted in the various districts in the Region to support the Service to educate the populace on fire safety.

Source:ghanaweb.com

Ban High Rise Buildings . GNFS Boss Tells Parliament

The Chief Fire Officer, Dr. Albert Brown-Gaisie, has appealed to Parliament to enact a legislation which would give the Ghana National Fire Service the power to stop the construction of high-rise buildings in the country. The legislative support, he said, had become imperative because of the emerging trend of constructing high-rise buildings which pose many challenges in fighting fire outbreaks in them. Dr. Brown-Gaisie made the appeal when he appeared before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to respond to issues raised in the Audit Report on the GNFS’ performance. Also present to support him was Mr. Mark Woyongo, outgoing Minister of the Interior, and his deputy James Agalga, as well as Emmanuel Agyekum, Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, and Kojo Bonsu, Kumasi Metropolitan Chief Executive, who were also there to explain steps being taken to prevent fires in the various markets, especially, the Kumasi Kejetia market. Mr. Fred Lokko, Managing Director of Ghana Water Company Limited, was also on hand to respond to issues of availability of fire hydrants for fire-fighting in the country. Dr. Brown-Gaisie’s request for a legislation to stop high rise buildings stemmed from the fact that the GNFS has no equipment to fight fires in high rise buildings. He said presently, the GNFS only had three turn-table ladders which could only reach the sixth floor of any high-rise building, despite the fact that many fire-fighters across the world now used hydraulic platforms which could reach the 45th floor of any high-rise building. The Chief Fire Officer said a simulation exercise performed in Accra over some high-rise buildings, revealed the vulnerability of fire-fighters under the present circumstances. He said the GNFS had adopted a strategy to help manage the situation by accessing the higher floors after the turn-table ladder had lifted fire-fighters to the manageable sixth floor. In terms of logistics, he said although the GNFS had not had the full complement of equipment needed; it was making do with available resources at their disposal. He said what the GNFS needed was to augment their staff numbers, since between 2013 and 2014, the service had over 7,350 fire-fighters who were “but now as I speak, we have only 6,994 staff while the demand for fire stations continues to increase.” He said the GNFS was in discussion with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to, at least, accelerate the recruitment of drivers for fire tenders. Dr. Brown-Gaisie said the GNFS had also acquired lands at both Ayikuma and Duayaw Nkwanta to establish new fire academies to train the staff. Responding to the issue of non-availability of fire hydrants, GWCL boss Fred Lokko said with more water being pumped into the system as a result of works to improve water supply, especially in the Accra-Tema environ, the hydrants situation had improved. He said many hydrants which hitherto were either sealed or dry,, had been opened with water flowing in them, and it was up to the GNFS to make use of them. Both Mr. Woyongo and Mr. Agyekum, in their contributions gave the assurance that they would continue to interact with the organizations under them, for effective and efficient delivery of service which would ensure efficient fire-fighting in the country. The chairman of the committee, Mr. Kwaku Agyemang-Manu, Member of Parliament of Dormaa Central, had earlier challenged the GNFS to ensure that all recommendations by the Audit Report were complied with. Source: Ghanaian Times

Firefighter battling PTSD: 'I didn't want to shut my eyes'

Scott Geiselhart is now traveling to fire departments across Minnesota speaking about suicide prevention and awareness education

FRAZEE, Minn. — A volunteer firefighter who tried to kill himself has made it his personal mission to save lives by talking about suicide, depression and PTSD.

Valley News Live reported that Scott Geiselhart said the challenges of the job started to get to him. He started struggling with drugs and anger toward his family.

"The nightmares would come back, and I would see my kids falling out of the sky on fire, and falling into the water and drowning while they are on fire, and I was paralyzed and I couldn't help them and that was the worst dream," Geiselhart said. "I had that many, many of nights, and it got to the point I just didn't want to shut my eyes anymore."

In July 2014, he thought the only way out to get some relief was to put a gun to his head and pull the trigger. But instead of going off, it just clicked.

That’s when he realized he had been struggling with PTSD and he didn’t even know it.

"Why couldn't people see that?" he said. "It can happen to anybody, PTSD, depression, suicide, it's all hand in hand and it's not being talked about enough."

He’s now traveling to fire departments across Minnesota speaking about the taboo topic. He also raises money with a group, called Never Give Up, for suicide prevention and awareness education.

"Now I just want to go back and try to prevent this from happening to anyone else," he said.

Scott Geiselhart

GNFS unhappy with rising rate of bush fires

The Central Regional Command of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) complaining about the increasing rate of bush fires in the Central Region, has urged residents to be more vigilant.

The Service said it has recorded a total of 70 bush fires with barely a week to end the first month of the year, thus describing the situation ‘as very outrageous.’

Divisional Officer I, Gilbert Wiafe, who is the Regional Fire Officer, at a media briefing, told the media that incidents of bush fire cases in the region had significantly increased over the past years, in contrast to the vigorous public education.

While only 36 bush fires were recorded in the whole of 2014, last year 118 was recorded. However, the figure has seen an increase of about 59 per cent with a few days to the end of the first month of the year.

Madam Georgina Agyari-Kwabi, a Deputy Director, who led a three-member delegation from the National Headquarters to the Central Region, to ascertain the causes of bush fires and how to address the menace, said bush burning was a challenging environmental concern in the country.

She said hunters, herdsmen, farmers and cigarettes smokers did not handle fire well and were the causes for most uncontrolled and indiscriminate bush burning.

She, therefore, advised farmers to always seek the consent of fire volunteers before burning their farms.

“The effects of bush fires on rural livelihoods and on the eco-system in Ghana are increasingly becoming extensive resulting in the destruction of property worth millions of Ghana cedis,” she stated.

Ms Agyari-Kwabi called for a concerted approach in curbing the menace considering the diverse and interactive nature of the causes of bushfires and urged chiefs to expose those who deliberately set the bush on fire to the Police for their instant arrests.

Source: www.allghananews.com

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